Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, has given the clearest indication yet that he is interested in running for president in 2027.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) chieftain appeared on Arise Television on Wednesday evening, where he played up his experience and downplayed insinuations that he would be too old for public office when Nigerians go to the polls next year.
Pointing to young state governors who are "failing woefully" - without mentioning names - Atiku said they would have done better with an experienced president guiding them.
"I personally believe they require experience, and they require tutelage from the older generation," he said.
Born in November 1946, Atiku will be 80 when Nigerians vote in next year's General Election, but he believes he stands a good chance, especially with Northern Nigerian voters.
He's also bullish about his broad appeal.
"I represent both the past and the future," he enthused.
Atiku did not fail to take a swipe at the All Progressives Congress government of his one-time good friend, Bola Tinubu, the former two-term governor of Lagos State and prolific godfather who is now president.
"Everything is wrong with President Tinubu."
"In my life, this is the worst administration I have seen in this country. I feel terribly disappointed."
Buoyed by the coalition of strong opposition politicians in his ADC, Atiku is confident that Tinubu will be easily defeated in 2027.
He points to his own strength in the North, former Anambra State governor Peter Obi's stronghold of the South East, and former transportation minister Rotimi Amaechi's South-South "political base."
"With a coalition candidate facing Bola Tinubu, (Bola Tinubu) is dead on arrival," said Atiku.
No Zoning in the Constitution
One issue that may work against the former vice president is the unwritten rule in Nigerian national politics that power should rotate between the North and the South.
Northern Nigerian politics is dominated by the majority Muslim Hausa and Fulani tribes, but becomes more Christian and less Hausa/Fulani as you move to the middle belt states bordering Southern Nigeria.
Southern Nigeria is largely Christian.
Atiku is a Fulani Muslim, just like Muhammadu Buhari, who presided over Nigeria from 2015 to 2023, during which time the country suffered two economic recessions.
Going by the gentleman's agreement, the following eight years, from 2023 to 2031, should have a Southern - and preferably Southern - president.
Atiku admits the non-binding rotational agreement but argues that it is unconstitutional.
"The only party that has a zoning provision in its constitution is the PDP. All the rest don't have," he said.
"Zoning is not in Nigeria's constitution," he added.
He made a strong point: that the South has had a president for more years than the North has had since 1999, when Nigeria returned to democratic rule.
The South has produced three presidents, with a combined tenure of 16 years in office, while the North's two have spent 11 years in the Aso Rock Villa.
Atiku is intent on evening out the number of years. But his first hurdle would be convincing the heavyweight politicians in the ADC that they should adopt him as the party's consensus candidate, the preferred mode of picking its presidential candidate.
If that fails, or he chooses not to step down for another aspirant, then he would have to convince party delegates to vote for him in a primary, something he is no stranger to, having run for president a record six times.
